The Raspberry Pi has received a ton of attention over the past year, as it's an inexpensive way to jump into computers or provide a great HTPC in an incredibly small space. Arduino boards have been around even longer, about a decade, and can power all manner of electronic devices and even robots. It makes perfect sense to combine the two, which is exactly what the UDOO (pronounced "you do") project aims to accomplish. This Raspberry Pi/Arduino combo is capable of running either Linux or Android all on the same board, in a size that's comparable to a 3" x 5" notecard. The UDOO comes in at 4.33" x 3.35", yet packs the power of four Raspberry Pis and an Arduino DUE.

At the heart of the UDOO Is an ARM i.MX6 Freescale processor (either dual or quad-core) for Android and Linux, plus the ARM SAM3X from the Arduino DUE. The idea behind the project is to provide a cost effective way to get people of all ages into the world of engineering, software development, and more. UDOO is perfect for educators and the do-it-yourself crowd, too. It's also a great way to make your own projects, like a new game controller, an LED light controller, or anything else you can think of.

UDOO has been on Kickstarter for about a week, yet already blew past its initial $27,000 goal. At press time, it's nearly to $118,000, which is mighty impressive for this little machine. A $99 pledge nets you a dual-core version with WiFi and Ethernet plugs, but there's only 100 spots left for that early tier. Pledges of $129 net the quad-core version with WiFi and Ethernet plugs, with 825 spots still available there. Otherwise you're looking at a pledge of $149 for the dual-core starter kit, which includes a power adapter localized for your country, a two meter HDMI cable, and two microSD cards with Linux and Android 4.0 already loaded. The quad-core starter kit is just a bit more at $169, with the same components as the dual-core one.

Once the computer ships in September of this year, the dual-core version will start at $109 and the quad-core at $129. The Kickstarter project runs until June 8, but don't delay too long or else those limited tiers will be all filled up. More information on the UDOO can be found at its Kickstarter page, and in the video below.